Walk Around the Site

July 15, 2012

Pentecost - Scatter Seed

Jesus starts out the Parable of
the Growing Seed by saying, “The kingdom
of God is as if someone
would scatter seed on the ground…” Mark 4:26. Farming is not a familiar
occupation any more. A century ago, and certainly in Jesus time, this image
would be easy to relate to. Now, the closest many of us get is picking up fresh
produce. Even if you pick up a seedling plant or two for your home garden,
someone else planted the seed. So we can too easily forget that all growing
things start with a seed of some size.

Some seeds are ‘picky’ about the
soil and moisture they require. Others will grow just about anywhere. Weeds
seem to appear everywhere you do not want them. In desert regions the
germination of plants is astonishing after a nice rain. It seems almost
overnight and the yard is covered with greenery where before there was just
brown sand.

There are steps to making a
successful garden or farm. First you have to prepare the soil so that it is a
better home for the seeds to grow in. That might mean adding more compost or breaking
up clay soil with the addition of some looser dirt. It will certainly mean that
you will have to dig and turn the soil either with a shovel or a plow to soften
it and awaken it.

Then you make furrows or scatter
the seed on the prepared soil, depending on what is needed. Seeds have to be
covered with dirt, too. You cannot just leave them lying on the surface of the
ground. Tiny seeds don’t require much dirt over them, but bigger seeds like
corn need to be buried deeper.

Water is necessary for
germination, but too much watering will wash out the seeds or prevent them from
sprouting. It’s all part of the careful nurturing process for growth.

The last step is the hardest-you
wait for the first sign that something is growing. You wait and you check the
ground daily for any little crack in the soil that might indicate a seedling
coming through. If you get too impatient and dig up the seed, though, you will
probably kill it.

Do you remember as a child
planting grass seed in a cup and waiting impatiently for it to grow? Or maybe
you did a science experiment where you put a bean in a clear cup, with cotton
to hold it in place and watched the little stringy root emerge and then
eventually the tiny baby leaves. It was fascinating to watch the growth occur,
but hard to wait for it to happen!

Back to our parable-how does the
process of planting seeds relate to our ministries? Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed
on the ground…” so there must be a relationship.

Planting seeds is a simple
process, in itself. The difficulty is in the patience needed while waiting for
the sprouts and growth. Ministry is similar and there are similar steps to growing new ministry.

For effective ministry, we
prepare the ‘soil’. The soil of ministry starts in our own hearts. In this
blog, we’ve looked at some ways to prepare the soil of our hearts. There is
giving joyful thanks, worship, and even abandoning our will to God’s. All this
prepares our hearts to be fertile and available to the seed of ministry God
plants there. Sometimes the preparation of our heart can feel like we are being
dug up and turned over like the gardener does with the soil in the garden.

After the ‘soil’ of our heart is
ready, God plants the seed of an idea of ministry. A vision of your calling comes
to you. It may be a grand plan like studying for ordination or preparing to go
into the mission field. It could be just a simple idea of sending cards to
shut-ins or taking up a collection for a shelter. Whatever it is, God has
planted that seed in your heart.

Then we have to tend the seed
while it grows. There is always the temptation to leap into action when you
have a vision. You might want to pack for Africa
immediately or rush out and start getting donations. However, your seed-your
vision needs some tending. You probably need to find out a bit more about what
living into that calling will entail. It might be learning what you need to
take on a mission trip or visiting the shelter to find out what they really
need. You might even need to take some classes.

If your calling and vision of
ministry is from God, you will discover that God has been preparing you for
this growth and work for a long time. You will probably discover that you have
many of the gifts and much of the information needed for the ministry.

Take time to evaluate where you
are in the growth process in your call. It might be time to cultivate the soil
a bit or maybe it is time to water and tend the seeds until they sprout and you
can begin to sense what kind of ‘plant’ you are growing. Be patient and remember
“My grace is sufficient for you, for power*
is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Remember you cannot hurry the
growth of a seedling, nor can you hurry the life-cycle of a ministry. Jesus
says the farmer, “would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout
and grow, he does not know how.” We’ll look at that next time.

Welcome to Footprints from the Bible, a place where we can journey together in discoveries about God and the stories of the Bible. Cynthia Davis is the author of a dozen books, including 6 novels about Bible life and times as seen through the eyes of the men and women of the Bible. Come along on the adventure of meditations, books, art, retreats and study topics.